Sarah Palin and Me

Anonymous sources are the bane of a reporter’s existence, and have been at least since Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein used them extensively to unmask Watergate and topple Richard Nixon.

Frankly, writing as someone who has been covering news since the late 1960s for everything from local newspapers to major market TV and radio stations to a major business newsweekly, journalists don’t like citing anonymous sources any more than much of the public likes reading pieces that quote people without attribution. Alas, more often than not, the reality is that in a highly-explosive story such as my piece about Sarah Palin published here on Friday, granting anonymity may be the only way to get a source to agree to be interviewed.

So I am not surprised that a number of readers who wrote comments about the article raised questions about my sources. It has happened before, especially when I tackled a subject that raises a lot of dust, and it will happen again. Although I won’t reveal any sources – I honor promises of anonymity – let me explain how the story unfolded and sources came to my attention as I did the reporting.

Desperately Seeking Lucille

When Palin’s name began leaking out the morning of Aug. 30, I sent an e-mail to an old friend from childhood who has been teaching in Alaska since he finished far too much graduate school, basically asking, “Who is Sarah Palin when it’s not raining and what was she before?”

He wrote back with not just a lengthy, invective-filled diatribe against her and the horse she rode in on but also a link to a 63-page vetting report on Palin he said was done up some time ago by Alaska Democrats. After reading it – information in the dossier goes all the way back to 2002 – I wrote again asking if he knew people I could contact for a possible article. A short list of names was provided, including Lucille the Waitress, the much-discussed and oft-doubted woman who seems to have drawn the largest number of questions from commentators on the article.

And how does he know her? Well, like many people living on minimum wage and tips, Lucille holds a second job which, in this case, includes cleaning my friend’s family home every other week.

Lucille was the first person I interviewed. In her late 50s or early 60s, she was nervous even though I provided her with my friend’s name and suggested she call him first to verify who I am. She decided to proceed with the interview, which lasted about 10 minutes. Assuming she knew nothing about having to put an interview “off the record” or on a “not for attribution” basis before the interview starts. I asked Lucille if I could use her name in my article. She let me use her first name but not her last because she said she was afraid she might be fired.

I called my friend after the interview and, relating what’d said, asked if she was trustworthy. I was assured that, “It’d be easier for Lucille to hunt bears bare handed than to tell a lie.”

My old pal’s role in the story ends at this point.

Legwork

Starting with the small handful of other possible sources provided to me, I began dialling. Some people would talk, others wouldn’t; some would refer me on to other possible interview subjects, others told me to go forth, be fruitful and multiply, in much coarser language before slamming the phone in my ear.

In other words, I relied on what reporters have always relied upon to unearth a story: Legwork, or what it was called about a hundred lifetimes ago when I was first starting out. More accurately, I used my phone. To answer one person who penned a comment to the original piece, this is how someone who grew up in Middle America, visited Alaska once in his life and now lives in Canada could do reporting on a story based up there. Flat rate long distance plans have worked wonders for journalism.

As I’ve been doing for 40 years, when I’d finish interviewing one source I’d ask them if they knew anyone else I might call. Thus, one source frequently begat a second which, often, begat a third. Thus, a picture of Sarah Palin began to emerge and the result was Alaskans Speak.

Do I wish more people would have spoken to me on the record and for attribution? Absolutely. Do I regret writing a piece that relied upon so many anonymous sources? Not one bit.

by Charley James

Charley James is an American journalist, author and essayist who lives in Toronto.

About Charley James

If you are born in Milwaukee, chances are you're born a Democrat. So, I gravitated naturally to liberal politics as an activist and a journalist. I've been writing since I was eight and, after working in newsrooms for far too long, I have devoted much of the past decade as an independent investigtative jouralist. For much of the past year, I've been writing about homelessness - America's immorality play.

Comments

I’m a 25-year Alaskan who has been writing an Alaska blog since 2005. I was also the blog chosen for the Democratic National Convention Blog Pool representing Alaska. (Go Obama!)

I’m much more invested in bringing down Sarah Palin than ANY of you.

I have friends in the Valley who have known Sarah Palin and her children for up to 18 years. I ran your article by them and they don’t believe your claims of racist epithets at all…they’ve seen no evidence.

And yes, they are afraid…you’ve got that right…and they are even more invested in making sure that Palin can’t do any damage on a national level than the rest of us. However, like me, they won’t use lies to do so. It will just backfire on us in the end.

I wrote an article on my blog refuting your claims because I believe the likelihood of their accuracy is low. If you want the full explanation of why, you’ll have to read it. If you want the full explanation of why my information is more credible than yours, you can get that in the article as well.

However, above and beyond that…these claims were WAY too explosive for you to take them public based on a waitress overhearing them at a restaurant. As a journalist, you should know that.

I, for one, appreciate the work you’ve done to bring the “other” side of Sarah Palin to light. My sincere hope is that all of this material gets out to the electorate before they vote. Perhaps many Republicans would STILL vote for her and McCain, but I think quite a few would decide to stay home on election day.

I lost respect for John McCain back when he became George Bush’s puppet. I see now that when John Mccain saw himself in Palin he saw someone as machiavellian as he is. Both are blinded by ambition, narcissistic, and care little for America (despite their false testimonies).

Charley,
there is a site that debunks rumors about Gov Palin.I believe it’s explorationschasmartin.something.Don’t know if you’re on it yet.It might be a good thing for some of your more deranged readers(I couldn’t tell if she were Hitler or benito reincarnated ) to read.All the best .And Charley,don’t let anyone tell you your wonderful insight was in vain.They laughed at Columbus.(but they also laughed at Bozo the Clown

Wellness

Carole Bartolotto: The problem with concluding that GMOs are safe is that the argument for their safety rests solely on animal studies. These studies are offered as evidence that the debate over GMOs is over. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Environmentalism

Walker Foley: Elected officials seem to think there’s only one side of this property rights argument. The people who live in these communities have rights too, but the oil companies seem to have the jump on [the politicians’] side of the fence.